Trip report by Craig Anderson for his Arizona IBA Big Year. The title is very descriptive of this IBA trip. While the birds of the Pinaleno Mountains were our primary objective, one could not help but be amazed by all …

Trip report by Craig Anderson for his Arizona IBA Big Year. Waiting for a trogon… The blue-gray silhouette of the Chiricahua’s greet me as I leave Wilcox, Arizona at sunrise. They rise to over 9,000 feet and once again, I’m surprised …

Trip report by Craig Anderson for his Arizona IBA Big Year. Volumes of Vermilions This report must start with a GREAT BIG “Thank You” to Celeste Andersen, Nature Conservancy Manager of the 7B Ranch near Mammoth and also her Supervisor …

Trip report by Craig Anderson for his Arizona IBA Big Year. The bottom line: the snowmelt draws along the Mogollon Rim are well-worth adding to your high-priority birding locations. Allow yourself two to three days to be in the area. …

Upcoming Events:

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Surveys – June-August 2017

The Arizona IBA program is conducting Yellow-billed Cuckoo surveys in Agua Fria NM IBA (contact Audubon Arizona for more info) and once again Tucson Audubon is doing surveys in the Coronado National Forest within in specific Sky Island mountain ranges.

This year we are surveying: Tumacacori Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains, Santa Catalina Mountains, and the Chiricahua Mountains.

Lucy’s Warbler Study – You can help us study these amazing birds.

Tucson Audubon is launching an initiative to learn more about Lucy’s Warbler nesting needs as well as study how effective different nestbox designs can be for these charismatic warblers. We need help with three aspects of this study: nestboxes (both building and monitoring), foraging investigation, and searching for natural nests. Find out more about this engaging and fun project at our Lucy’s Warbler Page Here.

Eastern “Azure” Bluebirds Nest Box Program

Azure Bluebird in nest hole by Richard Thompson

Tucson Audubon needs you help to monitor and maintain nest boxes in SE Arizona for the Azure sub-species of Eastern Bluebirds that nest in the grasslands and oak foothills of our Sky Islands.

These birds are special as they are a distinct sub-species of Eastern Bluebird that occurs in southeast Arizona known as Azure Bluebird or Mexican Bluebird and they are quite different from the “regular” Eastern Bluebirds. The Azure Bluebirds that love the meadows and grasslands of southeast Arizona are smaller and paler than their eastern cousins and stay in this habitat year-round instead of migrating. It is tempting to think of these birds as pioneers from the eastern population that have made it out west, but in reality the situation is more complex and international. The range of Eastern Bluebirds extends significantly into Mexico and our Azure Bluebirds are a northern extension of the birds that inhabit the Sierra Madre mountain chain. This means that the Azure Bluebird that helped to make the Patagonia Mountains an Important Bird Area are one more “Mexican specialty” bird that makes Southeast Arizona such a great place for birders.

For information on the Azure Bluebird Nest Box program and for information on joining the monitoring team please visit this link.

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Audubon Launches Multistate Grassroots Network to Protect Rivers

Join the Effort to Save Critical Habitat for Birds and Other Wildlife

Audubon is taking a major step to address threats to rivers in the arid west, launching the Western Rivers Action Network, a multistate grassroots coalition to advocate for rivers and the birds and other wildlife that depend on them.

The Colorado River and its tributaries provide water for tens of millions of people, including twenty-two Native American tribes and the populations of Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque and Tucson. In Arizona, millions of migrating birds representing over 250 species depend on these waterways for their survival. Over 100 species, including the Southwest Willow Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo and Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, breed in Arizona’s riparian forests. Some 80% of Arizona’s vertebrates spend some portion of their life cycle in riparian areas. Many of these species are now threatened or endangered.

Years of drought, invasive species, over-allocation and unsustainable management have resulted in loss of riparian habitat and significantly reduced flows. Audubon’s Western Rivers Action Network will work across the intermountain west to raise awareness of threats to rivers, promote conservation actions to increase flows and improve habitat, and advocate for sensible water management policies that benefit communities and wildlife.

Checkout our new booklet on Arizona’s Important Bird Areas. This booklet features each of Arizona’s 42 IBAs with information on how to best visit each IBA, site information, the birds that make each area special and conservation issues that each IBA is facing.

If you have comments and edits for this second draft booklet, you can download this PDF file and make corrections/suggestions right in the PDF. If you could then add your name to the end of the file name and send it to jmacfarland@tucsonaudubon.org and we will make those changes. Thank you so much for helping us to make this booklet the best it can be!

The Arizona IBA Program, Avian Science Initiative is led by the Arizona IBA Program at Tucson Audubon Society. This website and the AZ IBA Bird Survey Database linked within it are administered by Tucson Audubon Society.

To participate in science-based IBA bird surveys managed by Audubon’s IBA Program in Arizona, including surveys at potential IBAs, existing IBAs, or at sites of interest to Audubon chapters in AZ, please contact Jennie MacFarland, AZ IBA Program Conservation Biologist at Tucson Audubon Society (520) 209-1804.

To inquire about the AZ IBA Program in general, including the IBA nomination and review process, the AZ IBA Science Committee, IBAs identified to date, and IBA recognition & publicity, as well as Audubon state policy issues, please contact Tice Supplee, Director of Bird Conservation at Audubon Arizona (620) 468-6470 x106.

Additionally, both IBA Program offices in Arizona work on issues and specific projects for the conservation of Important Bird Areas in Arizona . The IBA Program works with people to promote win-win-win objectives for people, wildlife, communities, and sustainable economies.

The AZ IBA Program also works in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (through the Arizona Bird Conservation Initiative), the Sonoran Joint Venture, the Intermountain West Joint Venture, Arizona State Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, BLM, land trusts, and various non-governmental organizations, colleges, and universities.

Other Citizen Science and Birding Opportunities:

Hummingbird Monitoring Network – This organization primarily uses volunteer hummingbird banders, data recorders and trappers to track movements and abundance of hummingbirds. There are several trapping sites within or very near Important Bird Areas. The sites in southern Arizona are: Sabino Canyon, Sonoita Creek State Natural Area, Florida Canyon (Santa Ritas), Harshaw Creek (Patagonia), Garden Canyon (Huachuca Mountains), Ft Huachuca Public Affairs Office, Mt Lemmon, El Coronado Ranch (Turkey Canyon, Chiricahua Mtns), George Walker House (Paradise, Chiricahua Mtns), South Western Research Station (Chiricahua Mtns). Information about how you can volunteer with the HMN can be found at www.hummonnet.org and information about the Sabino Canyon site specifically can be found at www.humbander.net

The spring count of the Tucson Bird Count is coming up! Any birder that can readily identify the birds of Tucson is invited to adopt a route to survey. It only takes one morning of your choice between April 15 …

Pinlaeño Mountains IBA The Pinaleño Mountains are one of the most northern of the Coronado Forest “Sky Islands”. Located in Graham County and south of the agricultural community of Safford, this mountain has provided resources for settlers in the region. …